Lifelong Learning

As most of you have probably seen, there are many "Top 5" lists going around on Facebook- top 5 celebrity crushes, top 5 movies, etc. Well, my boss did one that really made me think, so I decided to do it. It was "Top 5 things I'd go back to school to study if money and time were no object." While I loved studying English Literature, I decided on other subjects.

The first one was gender studies. I took a gender studies class last fall and LOVED it. Of course, it was called a GS class but it was so much more. We also looked at race and class among other things. I have been amazed how much of it I have been able to apply to other things. Such as my pregnancy, for example. Until the 20th century, birth was solely a female affair. While I am glad aspects of that have changed (husbands being allowed in the room), I have come to believe that many male doctors are allowing women to lose faith in themselves and in their innately female ability to give birth. Anyways...

The next subject I picked was political studies. I just got so interested in politics this last presidental election. And that interest has not abated yet.

For obvious reasons, the fourth and fifth subjects I picked were child development and midwifery. I have really enjoyed experiencing the process of pregnancy and would love to help others through it, and I would love to learn about child development to aid in being a good parent.

The third subject I chose was civil rights in America. Luckily, as with many topics, I do not have to return to school to learn about this. In fact, I've already started. About a month ago, I started losing interest in books. I would start them but not be able to get more than 10 pages in. I'm sure some of it was just taking a break because of being finally done with school. The rest of it was preoccupation with all the things going on in my life- moving and preparing for the baby. Well, I was at work checking in one day and I checked in a book called Why We Can't Wait by Martin Luther King, Jr. It was on hold for someone, so I couldn't check it out then. I put it on hold myself and got it last week. Oh my gosh...his eloquence and power with words will NEVER cease to astound me. The book is specifically about the summer of 1963 and all the demonstrations that took place in Birmingham, Alabama. I have a hard time believing he accomplished so much good in his short life, and I just have to wonder how much more he could have done had his life not been ended prematurely. It was sad to see how much of what he wrote in that book could still be true today. This was one of my favorite quotes:

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial “outside agitator” idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.” (65)

I also enjoyed the story he shared of a cook during the bus boycotts: "During the Montgomery bus boycott, a white family summoned their Negro cook and asked her if she supported the terrible things the Negroes were doing, boycotting buses and demanding jobs. "Oh no, ma'am, I won't have anything to do with that boycott thing," the cook said. "I am just going to stay away from the buses as long as that trouble is going on." No doubt she left a satisfied audience. But as she walked home from her job, on feet already weary from a full day's work, she walked proudly, knowing that she was marching with a movement that would bring into being nonsegregated bus travel in Montgomery." (14-15)

I'm glad I actually finished a book in June that was not related to pregnancy or birth, and I'm glad I took advantage of the opportunity to learn. Schools and teachers are amazing, but so are books and the internet.